A change in organ donation law could bring the "gift of life" to more people as it emerges more than 60 people have died in Cambridgeshire alone while waiting for transplants in the last ten years.

The Cambridge News' sister paper The Mirror is calling for a switch from the current opt-in system of organ donation to an opt-out system in the UK, where the presumption is in favour of giving organs following the donor’s death, in its Change the Law for Life campaign.

This groundbreaking change is expected to increase the number of donors by 25 per cent.

Figures obtained by the Cambridge News’ data unit show 65 people died in the county while on the active or suspended transplant list between 2007/08 and 2016/17.

On Friday (February 23), a Private Members' Bill will be presented in the House of Commons by Geoffrey Robinson MP, proposing to change organ donation laws in England to an opt-out system.

52 people waiting for a transplant in Cambridgeshire

At present, people have to opt in to become an organ donor after their death.

The law change will mean they will automatically be considered a donor unless they have previously decided to opt-out.

Family members could still overrule this should they wish.

Wales has already moved to an opt-out system, with Scotland set to follow.

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"We know most people are full of goodwill and willing to donate organs if they die but for one reason or another never get around to signing the register.

"That is why we have to change the law.”

The opt-out system has the backing of the British Medical Association (BMA), which has campaigned for the change for many years, with BMA council chairman Dr Chaand Nagpaul saying it “has the potential to save many lives”.

'The gift of life is the most precious thing we can give'

Barnsley MP Dan Jarvis, another key backer of the bill, said: “England must now move to an opt-out system.

"The evidence is clear – hundreds of people a year are paying a price of us not doing so.”